Ship stabilizer



Sept. 14, 1965 A. OCCHETTI SHIP STABILIZER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.2, 1964 INVENTOR. [01/4534 066 /6777 ATTORNEY United States Patent3,205,850 SHIP STABILIZER Louis A. Occhetti, Bloomfield, N.J., assignorto Lidgerwood Manufacturing Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation ofNew York Filed Jan. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 335,231 2 Claims. (Cl. 114-126)This invention relates to ship stabilization by means of the familiarfins mounted to protrude from the sides of a ships hull below the waterline and to be tilted oppositely to counteract roll.

The main object of the invention is to provide a sta-* bilizer unit ofsuch simplified and improved construction as to be economical tofabricate and to afford numerous advantages from the standpoint ofinstallation and maintenance.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially broken out view in vertical section of astabilizer installation incorporating a preferred form of the invention,the section being on the line 11 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of FIG. 1, on a slightlyreduced scale; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a detail.

In the illustrated preferred form, the invention is in corporated in astabilizer installation of the so-called retractable type in which eachfin, with its supporting shaft, is bodily rotatable about a stowing axisnormal to the tile axis, from an outboard, active position to an idle orstowed position within the lines of the hull. As will later be apparent,various forms and applications of the invention other than the oneillustrated are feasible.

The stabilizer fin 1 is secured to a fin shaft 2 which is journaled inbearings 3, 4. These bearings are disposed and supported in the openings5, 6 formed inthe opposite ends of a casting in the form of a shell orhollow body generally designated 10. The inboard shell opening is closedby a bolted cover 11 and the axial thrust of the fin shaft is taken bythe shell through bushings 12, 13 disposed on opposite sides of a thrustplate 14 bolted or otherwise secured to the inboard end of the finshaft.

According to the invention, the tilting of the shaft 2 about its axis,thereby to position the fin as required to stabilize the vessel, iseffected by suitable motor means mounted in the shell and preferablysuch means are hydraulic.

In the form illustrated, the shell 10 is cast with a laterallyprojecting enlargement or cavity 19 (FIG. 2) accommodating a powercylinder 20, one end of which is pivotally secured, as at 21, to thecavity wall. The free end 22 of cylinder rod 23 is pinned to a crankmember 24 bolted to shaft 2. The hydraulic fluid lines connected toopposite ends of the cylinder are indicated at 25 and 26.

This preferred form of the invention incorporates, also mounted withinthe shell 10, locking means for locking the shaft against tilting as andwhen required. As shown, such means consists of a bolt or stop rotatablymounted in the upstanding boss 31 and a pair of bars 32 secured to thefin shaft. As will be apparent, by rotating the bolt it can be caused toenter between and engage the bars 32 to lock the fin shaft againsttilting or can be withdrawn from such engagement to permit the shaft tobe tilted by the motor means.

It will be recognized that the foregoing components are adapted forassembly wherever convenient to form a package or unit ready forinstallation.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, such a unit is shown installed in a shipsbull in such fashion as to be bodily rotatable about the axisrepresented by the section line Patented Sept. 14, 1965 22, from theindicated outboard position of the fin to a position in which the fin isstowed within the lines of the hull.

The stowing of fins in this general fashion is well known and, as usual,there is provided a fin box 35 located within and secured to the hull,portions of which are indicated at 36, 37. As is customary, a slot 38 isprovided (in this instance shown as formed in the outer wall 39 of thefin box) by way of which the fin enters the box when the unit is rotatedwith the fin in its median or non-tilted positionwhcih is the positionin which the fin may be locked by the locking means described above.

The unit shell 10 is provided with large upper and lower ports orcircular openings 45, 46 and the walls of the shell surrounding theseports are bolted, as at 47, to the inner ends of hollow, cylindricalpintle members 48, 49 which project into the hull where their open endsare closed by cover plates 50, 51. Being of like internal diameter tothat of the ports, the pintle members form cylindrical extensions of theport openings and provide ready access, from within the hull, to bolts47. The pintle members are journaled in bushing rings 52, 53 located inthe upper and lower walls of the fin box and appropriately secured andbraced.

While the stowing mechanism forms no part of the present invention, thebodily rotation of the shell unit and pintle members may be affected bya hydraulic cylinder and rod 60, 61, the latter pinned to a crank member62 bolted to the upper end of pintle member 48, as indicated in FIG. 2.As also indicated in FIG. 2, the locking member 30 may be operated by arod 63 extended through the lower cover plate 51 for manipulation by ahand wheel 64 within the hull. It will also be understood, of course,that the hydraulic fluid lines 25, 26 of the fin shaft tilting cylinder20 are extended out through the shell for connection to a pump (notshown) within the hull.

It will be seen that by providing the large upper and lower shell ports45, 46 and keeping them unobstructed by disposing the motor means fortilting the fin shaft within the shell, these ports provide ready accessto the interior of the shell. Whether the ship is at sea or in dock, itis simply necessary to remove, say, the upper cover plate 50, to bringwithin reach (for adjustment or repair) the glands, bearings and othercomponents within the shell 10. Emergency repairs can thus be madewithout requiring any major dismantling of the installation andaccordingly at considerable saving of time and expense. While there isnothing critical about the dimen sions, it may be noted in thisconnection that in a typical installation, the diameter of the fin shaft2 might be of the order of 16" and, at the scale of the drawings, theshell port diameters would be 2' or more; in other words, substantiallylarger than the shaft diameter.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ports are located, respectively, directly aboveand beneath the shaft, that is to say, with the port axis intersectingthe shaft axis; and since the port (and shell) diameters aresubstantially greater than the shaft diameter, there is thus created aworking space extending from the port openings to and around the sidesof the shaft. By this means, as shown in FIG. 1, the adjacent shaftbearings are accessible to be worked on and also, of course, the shafttilting ram and its rod connection to the shaft.

It will also be noted that as a further result of the illustratedconstruction the pintle member bearings are of large diameter and,accordingly, the stresses minimized by distributing the pintle reactionforces over large bearing areas.

Still another advantage of the invention is the ease with which theshell unit can be removed bodily for major overhaul or replacement, itbeing merely necessary to remove bolts 47 and slightly spread the pintlemembers.

It will be understood that while the above description of the presentlypreferred form of construction exemplifies the principles of theinvention, it is capable of embodiment in various other forms to meetthe needs of the particular case; and, in the light of the foregoing,the following is claimed;

1. In a ship stabilizer installation of the retractable fin typeincluding a fin box secured to the hull, a stabilizer unit shelldisposed within the box and having aligned upper and lower ports,aligned openings at opposite ends of the shell, bearings in saidopenings, a fin shaft traversing the shell and journaled in saidbearings, upper and lower hollow cylindrical pintle members aligned withsaid ports and secured to the shell, said members being journaled in andprotruding through the fin box walls within the hull, the improvementwhich comprises: shaft-tilting motor means located within the shell andmeans within the shell coupling the motor means to the shaft, the axisof the said ports positioned to intersect the axis of the shaft and thediameters of the ports and of the shell portion traversed by the shaftexceeding that of the shaft, whereby a working space is createdextending from the port openings to and around the sides of the shaft,the inner ends of the bearings located adjacent said working space, andremovable cover plates normally closing the remote ends of the pintlemembers, the said ports and pintle members being dimensioned to affordaccess to said working space upon removal of said cover plates.

2. A stabilizer unit comprising a shell having upper and lower alignedports, aligned openings at opposite ends of the shell, bearings in saidopenings, a fin shaft traversing the shell and journaled in saidbearings, the axis of the ports being located to intersect the axis ofthe shaft and the diameters of the ports and of the shell portiontraversed by the shaft exceeding that of the shaft, whereby a workingspace is created extending from the port openings to and around theshaft, the inner ends of the shaft bearings being located in saidworking space and the ports being dimensioned to afford access to saidworking space.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,848,971 8/58Kollenberger 1l4126 2,979,010 4/61 Braddon et al 114-126 2,998,794 9/61Beach 114126 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner.

2. A STABILIZER UNIT COMPRISING A SHELL HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ALIGNEDPORTS, ALIGNED OPENINGS AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE SHELL, BEARINGS IN SAIDOPENINGS, A FIN SHAFT TRAVERSING THE SHELL AND JOURNALED IN SAIDBEARINGS, THE AXIS OF THE PORTS BEING LOCATED TO INTERSECT THE AXIS OFTHE SHAFT AND THE DIAMETERS OF THE PORTS AND OF THE SHELL PORTIONTRAVERSED BY THE SHAFT EXCEEDING THAT OF THE SHAFT, WHEREBY A WORKINGSPACE IS CREATED EXTENDING FROM THE PORT OPENINGS TO AND AROUND THESHAFT, THE INNER ENDS OF THE SHAFT BEARING BEING LOCATED IN SAID WORKINGSPACE AND THE